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AUTOMOTIVE industry charity Ben has launched a training programme that will see it work with employers to raise awareness about mental health.

It will also look to manage mental health in the workplace and provide practical tools for individuals to help them better manage their mental health.

A full day’s training programme is available for managers to help them support employees, and there is also a series of short masterclasses for employees to enable them to cope with life’s challenges.

Ben says the courses are designed specifically for people working in the automotive industry and are suitable for all organisations.

Through BenTraining, the not-for-profit organisation says it delivers real business benefits of improved productivity and reduced absenteeism. It added that the development of this new service was in direct response to the huge increase in demand for mental health-related help from people in the automotive industry.

Source: BenTraining

It said it received a 78 per cent increase in requests for help from people about their mental health during 2016-17, compared with 2015-16.

A recent government report warned that the UK faced a significant mental health challenge at work and that 300,000 people with a long-term medical health problem lost their jobs each year. Ben said that in the automotive industry, that could potentially equate to more than 8,000 people.

Jools Tait, business development director at Ben, said: ‘Our aim is to support the people working in the automotive industry with any mental health challenges they face, as well as providing the training needed by their managers so they know how to support them. We believe that through BenTraining, automotive businesses will benefit from reduced absence and improved productivity in their workforces.

‘We are committed to developing the relevant services needed to prevent people from suffering in silence, as well as help them remain resilient to the challenges that life brings.’